Thursday, October 9, 2008

Fathers of Center Pivot Irrigation (I)

In the 1950s, Paul Zimmerer started a farm equipment business in Lindsay, NE. One of his early products was the first successful irrigation towline for rough terrain.

Paul’s sons, Arthurand Bernard, designed and built the first Zimmatic center pivot in the 1960s.

The pivot’s electric drive system was designed to handle hilly terrain and featured the first enclosed worm gearboxes, which remain the standard drive mechanism on today’s electric center pivots. Lindsay Manufacturing Company's first Zimmatic center pivot was installed in 1969 on a farm near Newman Grove, NE.